During a November earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jaffy sounded super excited about the company’s Prime Video unit. He couldn’t have been more clear about it: “We’re pleased with what we’re seeing in Prime Video.”
But he apparently wasn’t excited enough. The company is laying off hundreds of the people making the content for its film and TV business, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.
In an email Amazon sent to employees in the two divisions Wednesday (Jan. 10) and provided to Quartz, senior vice president Mike Hopkins started out with similar pleasantries.
“We’ve taken significant steps towards our long-term vision of making Prime Video the first-choice entertainment destination for customers worldwide, and I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished as a team to date,” he wrote.
Uh huh.
Eventually: “Yet, at the same time, our industry continues to evolve quickly and it’s important that we prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers.”
Uh oh.
A little bit about how “our industry continues to evolve quickly,” an ominous “we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas,” and finally: “As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organization.”
It’s not clear exactly how many people will be losing their jobs, though an Amazon spokesperson offered that it was a “relatively small percentage” of the people working in those parts of the company.
Amazon, which doesn’t break out the revenues or profits from its film and TV business, bought the fabled MGM Studios in 2022 for $8.5 billion. It’s original productions created a nice golden halo:
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, about a woman’s rise through the comedy ranks of the 1950s, has 22 Emmy awards.
- Steve McQueen’s Small Axe miniseries, which followed the story of the UK’s Windrush Generation, has been added to the prestigious Criterion Collection.
- At this year’s Golden Globes, the company secured 16 nominations, from Jeffrey Wright’s comedy/musical lead actor nod for his performance in book publishing movie American Fiction, to the Michael Jordan/Nike business bildungsroman Air making the shortlist for best comedy/musical.
Air ends with Nike coming up with a shoe. Now some of the people who helped make it are getting the boot.
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